The Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation (HVIR) is home to over 3,000 residents, including nearly 1,000 homes, businesses, anchor institutions, and Hoopa Valley Tribal departments and programs. Approximately 10 percent of the homes and businesses on the HVIR have internet access, and around 800 households have “little to no high-speed broadband.” Hunter first started work in the Hoopa Valley on a point-to-point fiber build. After completing that project in 2018, Hunter began working with the Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District (HVPUD) on a dark fiber build for forty tribal offices throughout the valley.
Hoopa Valley Broadband Initiative
The success of the two previous builds led to a partnership with the Hoopa Valley Tribe on the Hoopa Valley Broadband Initiative (HVBI), which aims to bring internet access to unserved and underserved residents of the Hoopa Valley. With funding from the California Advanced Service Fund (CASF), the HVBI contributes to better access to education, health care, and business opportunities in the communities.
The HVBI included both middle-mile fiber-optic and fixed wireless internet infrastructure. Hunter was responsible for all fiber-related aspects of the Hoopa Valley Broadband Initiative, including fiber engineering, construction, implementation, permitting, and outreach support.
Project Partners
Rural and remote projects like HBVI have several obstacles that require successful partnerships for completion.
Hunter coordinated with EnerTribe, a native-owned consulting firm providing project management, outreach, wireless network engineering, and tower upgrades and the HVPUD Broadband Division known as Acorn Wireless. The three entities worked together on permitting and approval processes through agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, CalTrans, PG&E, and landowners.
The project also required collaboration with neighboring Karuk and Yurok tribes in order to establish network interconnections to maintain regional network integrity.
Sam Ackley, Chief Operating Officer at Hunter Communications, said, “Our partnership with Hoopa Valley PUD and EnerTribe were crucial in navigating challenges efficiently and helped make the project take one to two years rather than ten years or longer. We relied on each other for our unique expertise to make this all happen.”
Hunter has established a fiber training program for Acorn Wireless staff so they can serve as Hunter’s partner and provide backbone maintenance and operations as well as network and customer support. Ultimately, the goal of HVBI is for Acorn Wireless to provide robust internet service to every household in the area.